a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to a retrofitted child resistant safety cap that relies upon squeezing an outer member or inner member to flex it from a circle to an oval to permit removal or separation from one another to expose a dispenser actuator. Failure to position the thumb and first finger on the indicia and to squeeze, renders the safety cap child resistant. In some embodiments, there are indicia on both members and rotational alignment is required before proper squeezing to separate the two members from one another. In this invention, a dispenser actuator is physically connected to and hinges on one member of the cap.
b. Description of Related Art
The following patents are representative of the field pertaining to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,352 B1 to DeJonge describes a present invention which is a child-resistant push and twist locking container. It includes a squeeze tube container having a neck and a dispensing orifice at an outer end of the neck, and the neck has one of a locking track and a locking lug. There is also a cap having at least three components and being assembled to cooperate with each other. This cap includes an outer shell having a sidewall and a top, the outer shell being adapted to receive and contain an inner top, a spring mechanism and an inner collar member; an inner top inserted into the outer shell and including a sealing liner for sealing the container and an inner collar member fixedly inserted into the outer shell and having the other of the locking track and the locking lug. There is a spring mechanism on at least one of the outer shell, the inner top and between the outer shell as a separate piece so as to permit the cap to be pushed and twisted into a closed side of the locking track wherein the spring mechanism biases the cap away from the container to maintain the lug in the track closed side.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,527 to Montgomery et al. describes a closure and container combination which comprises a child resistant squeeze and turn closure having a tamper indicating band which is removed from the closure after the first removal of the closure from the container. The closure has dual squeeze pads located opposite one another on the outer wall of the closure. Formed at 90 degrees from the squeeze pads are two child resistant lugs which extend inwardly from the closure lower skirt wall. The child resistant lugs extend downwardly below the lowermost edge of the annular skirt of the closure. Frangible webs are positioned at 45 degrees from the external tabs and the squeeze pads and retain the tamper indicating band onto the closure side wall. A first and a second child resistant container lug contacts the closure lugs and are placed on the neck of the container above the tamper indicating bead. The child resistant feature of the closure needs to be overcome before the tamper indicating band is fractured from the closure. After removal of the tamper indicating band, the child resistant lugs extend below the closure side wall to provide a visual cue as to the child protective feature of the closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,863 to Kusz describes a squeeze and turn child resistant package including a container having a finish and a closure having a base wall and an outer peripheral flexible wall depending from the base wall. The wall has an internal thread on the inner surface thereof, the finish has an external thread thereon. The closure has an internal surface with spaced flexible chordal lugs extending circumferentially in the direction of removal of the closure. The container finish has opposed radially extending abutments. Each abutment includes a radial abutting surface. The finish of the container includes an intergral radial projection adjacent the radial abutting surface of the abutment which has a lesser radial extent than the abutment. The radial projection has a chordal surface extending to the intersection of the radial abutting surface on the finish such that the chordal lug on the closure is forced toward the intersection when a closure is rotated in a retrograde direction to remove the closure without flexing the peripheral wall. The finish has stops below the threads engaging a blunt end leading end of the thread on the closure to limit the movement of the closure and orient the closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,363 to Davis describes an invention which provides a tamper-resistant and child-resistant container and cap assembly in which a container body with a substantially cylindrical neck including an externally screw threaded portion near to the top and a plurality of lugs at the bottom, a cap with a cap body which tapers internally outwardly from an internally screw-threaded part near to the top and which has a corresponding number of depending webs near to the bottom for engagement with the lugs of the container body in the manner of a ratchet and pawl mechanism and a tamper-resistant band provided below the cap body and connected thereto by frangible tongues, the band being shaped to engage with the container body so that when the cap is unscrewed the cap body rises but the band is held down and the frangible tongues are broken.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,704 to Fernand Hilaire discloses a tamper-proof plastic closure device with safety means comprising and internally screw-threaded plug matching the screw-threaded and beaded neck of a container. The plug is retained by the neck bead engaging a groove formed in the outer skirt of the plug and the plug itself is covered by a cap in smooth frictional contact therewith. The central area of the internal surface of the flexible and bulged top wall the cap which is bounded by a rigid projecting circular rib, comprising means adapted to co-act with matching means provided in the central area of the plug when a sufficient pressure is exerted on the area, so as to rotatably drive the plug and release same from the retaining bead.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,270 to Lyle Claud Affleck describes an arrangement, for closing a container such as a bottle or like container, including a cap within the skirt of which is mounted one or more projections, for example, pins. Each pin fits into a groove formed in or on the neck or similar formation on the container. Each groove has at least one indent within which the inserted pin can be located to hold the cap in a position to seal the container. The cap is provided with means to bias it away from the container when the latter is sealed, and an enlarged indented section within a groove is used so that the biasing action in combination with the enlarged indented section provide a closure for the container which cannot be easily undone by young children. In another arrangement, the pins are located on the container and the grooves within the cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,001 to Peter Gach discloses a container and child proof closure therefor. The container has a neck surrounding an opening. At least two flanges project from the neck. Each flange has a spirally expanding first camming surface and downwardly directed helilcal second camming surface which terminates at an inwardly directed end surface. The closure comprises outer and inner members. The outer member includes lugs for engaging the second camming surface as the cap is rotated on the container neck to a locked position for holding the closure on the neck. The inner member includes resilient means which ride of the first camming surfaces and abut the flange end when the closure is to the locked position to prevent removal of the closure. Movement of the inner closure member against spring means within the outer closure member permits the closure to be rotated from the locked position for removal from the container. In one embodiment, means is provided for further tightening the closure on the container after it is in the locked portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,770 to Bruno Weigand describes in combination with a container provided with a mouth portion: a cap having a cylindrical side wall applicable to the mouth portion container, circumferentially-spaced side lugs carried by the cap on the inside thereof, climbing cams carried by the mouth of the container and peripherally disposed thereon for engagement by said lugs when the cap is turned in the closing direction to draw the cap down, recess means for engagement by the lugs to preclude the cap from turning in the opening direction, and tensionable means depending from said side wall for securing the lugs in the recess means, said tensionable means including an annular extension member in the vicinity of said mouth portion in the applied position of the container, said extension member having a resilient wall portion disposed to extend alongside of said mouth with a free edge curved outwardly therefrom for spreading under tension by contact with a relatively fixed surface when the cap is turned in its closing direction.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.